The Pure360 Weekly Email and Digital Roundup: Twitter hearts, self aware drones, and Amazon open a real life bookstore

It can be tricky to keep an eye on what’s happening in the fast-paced world of email and digital marketing, so to save you time we’ve provided you with a quick round-up of the latest and greatest digital developments of the week that we think will be useful to power your campaigns and future planning.

So, what’s been going on in the digital world this week? Let’s find out!

Drones are becoming self aware (kind of)

Last week we discussed Artificial Intelligence in Barbies and dinosaurs, this week we’re talking about some slightly bigger toys! MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab are teaching drones how to avoid obstacles in their flight path from as little as 33 feet away. The algorithm is to be made open source to allow further innovation from other developers, which could herald new developments in collision-avoidance software for vehicles.

Amazon open bookstore IRL

World-renowned online retailers Amazon have recently taken their first steps into the real world of retail with the launch of their first bookstore. Having spent years developing brand trust and customer loyalty online, the launch of their physical retail unit appears to be attracting visitors mainly out of curiosity and loyalty, which raises the hopes and aspirations of online retailers everywhere who dream of eventually opening their own real-world shop.

Google open sources machine learning technology

Ever heard of TensorFlow? Neither had we! It’s the machine learning technology that has given us Google app speech recognition, Google Photos search and the brand-spanking new “Smart Reply” feature, and it’s just been open-sourced so everyone can get their hands on it! The technology helps make apps smarter, allowing companies to build and train neural nets up to five times faster, and it’s applicable to other domains too, not just Google. The intention with open-sourcing TensorFlow is to speed up the innovation in machine learning systems that will help developers build technology that works like a human brain, allowing companies to develop and improve products more quickly, and with less need to go back to the drawing board and rewrite code. All in a days work, Google!

Nano-scale fingerprints for the Internet of Things

With all this recent talk of connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), you might be having some concerns over the security of your data and what happens if someone hacks into your IoT connected fridge-freezer. Developers from Lancaster and Manchester University have developed tiny atomic-scale fingerprints, essentially tiny identity tags with minuscule imperfections that are virtually impossible to clone without measuring fingerprints atom-by-atom. Not even the most dedicated of hackers will be able to do that!

Twitter doesn’t heart stars anymore

Finally, have you spotted hearts appearing all over your Twitter feed? No, your followers aren’t just feeling amorous, Twitter have upset the masses after axing the popular star icon for favouriting tweets. Or have they? Speaking at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, Twitter’s Kevin Weil reported a 6% increase in users liking tweets and updates in just a week following the new icon launch, proving that even little tweaks to your campaigns or operations can have a massive effect on success. We love it!

On that note, we’re going to love you and leave you. See you all next week when we’ll be bringing you another weeks’ worth of digital delights!